This is going to be a super a simple guide to the different features of Instagram.

Posts

These these can be photos, videos or carousel posts (carousels are just more than one image that you swipe to view). They appear on your profile page and can be viewed by others if you have a public account.

Stories

Instagram stories feature allows you to share photos and videos that disappear after 24 hours. They do not appear on your main Instagram grid but rather at the top of your screen when you’re on the Instagram mobile app. They’re often the first pieces of content users see when they open Instagram. They also appear on your profile when someone taps on your profile picture.

Lives

Instagram Live are living streaming. It is an unedited stream for your followers to tune into and engage with. Instagram Live’s allows your audience to submit their comments in real-time. Hosting an Instagram Live can also help boost your discoverability on Instagram. Your followers will receive an in-app notification at you are going live. Instagram also lets you go live with with others so you can have people come join in with your lives.

Reels

This is Instagram’s version of Tik Tok. Instagram users can record and edit together 30-second video clips set to music and share them to their stories, their feed, and the new Reels tab on a user’s profile. Reels can be recorded as a series of clips and added together.

Guides

These are a really great way to share curated, scrollable content. It’s great for recommendations and tips as it collates posts into an easy-to-digest format. You can put a number of similar posts together to form a guide. Things like tips can make a great guide. That way people can click on the guide and all your posts on tips are all together rather than the user having to scroll through all your posts to view your tips.

IGTV

This is Instagram’s version of YouTube. Videos can be up to 10 mins long (60 mins. for verified accounts) and must be a minimum of 1 minute long. Instagram also allows you to post one-minute previews of their IGTV videos on their feeds to improve discoverability. You can create channels to categorise your IGTV videos. You can also save your lives to your IGTV so that they don’t just disappear once you have done them.

Instagram has continued to evolve and keeps creating new ways to share content. Each of the features has it’s own benefits. Instagram wants it’s new features to be utilised so easy adopters of their features tend to see the benefits in the terms that Instagram will push their content out to more people.

If you want to know how to best use each of these features to grow your business then get in touch at info@thesocialfactor or sign up to my “2-minute social media hack” emails.

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This blog isn’t about him though, it’s about knowing the power of twitter and how it can help your business. If a tweet by a novice can get the attention of people, think about what can a well planned twitter account could do for your business.

Why is twitter great for your business?

Brand awareness

It’s a great way of giving your brand an actual voice. So you can add some personality to it. A good example is Innocent drinks, they do a great job of using social media to give their brand personality. Being on twitter also gets you seen and heard. 47% of people who follow a brand on Twitter are more likely to visit that company’s website. If you’re out there tweeting and engaging with people it is getting your business seen more. By posting engaging content, people will start to want to follow your business and join in with conversations.

Engaging with customers

You can have conversations with customers and potential customers. You can get real time thoughts on new products and feedback. This may not always be positive feedback. However it allows you to learn what customers want and provides you with the opportunity to handle a customer service issue in a way that shines a positive light on your business

Networking

People often forget that Twitter gives you opportunities to talk and collaborate with people in a way you previously couldn’t. It’s a great tool for business to network and get involved in industry wide conversations. It gets you seen by people you may even be looking to hire or companies that are looking to use your services.

Making it work

I have to remind people that although Twitter is great, you can’t just open an account and expect to get followers. It does take work. It’s just like a networking event. You can’t go in shouting about your business and expect people to want to talk to you. With Twitter you need to engage with people, join in with conversations, don’t butt into a conversation promoting your business though. Hijacking a conversation is never good.

On your marks, get set…..Tweet

Twitter is a great way to get talking to a wealth of people. It’s a free form of advertising and PR so why would you not try it? Get tweeting! If you’re completely new to tweeting, Twitter have a simple guide

To really get Twitter working for you it does take dedicated time. There are some more detailed guides but if that’s not something you can commit to then The Social Factor can help you leverage Twitter. Whether that be through offering social media management or training you to help leverage it yourself.

HAPPY TWEETING!

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